


Two Words

by hatefulofsorrow



Series: Children [10]
Category: Hit the Floor (TV)
Genre: Arguments, Fluff, M/M, crying children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 13:12:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7316506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hatefulofsorrow/pseuds/hatefulofsorrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an AU story where Jude and Zero are married and live in their new house with their 3 adopted children<br/>(/^▽^)/ :｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,･:*:･ﾟ’☆</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Words

**Author's Note:**

> It took a hot minute to finish this one up for some reason. I'd like to especially thank Red's99 for being so patient even though I had promised her this a while back. I'm so sorry but I hope you enjoy it!!!! I hope everyone does! Thanks for reading. ~ヾ(＾∇＾)

"Two!" Jude yelled tying his tie. "Are you listening to me? Wake up." He threw a pillow at Zero who sleepily buried his face into the sheets even further.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Two...I know.” He muffled in return.

Jude shook his head, pulled on his coat and headed to Ariel’s door, “Ariel we have to leave soon unless your father is going to take you. I’m leaving in 3 minutes.” He headed down the stairs to pack his thermos of coffee as Ariel emerged from her room ready to leave.

She peaked in on Zero who hugged his pillow and turned his face towards her, “Hey, isn’t your husband a bit on edge lately?” 

“Is he? I hadn’t noticed. He seems perfect to me,” Zero said with a smile making Ariel roll her eyes.

“Fine. Be that way.” She walked over and kissed his head, “Bye.”

“Ariel! I’m leaving!” Jude shouted from downstairs.

“I’m coming. You better not leave without me!” She yelled as she made her way downstairs.

Zero heard the car start and suddenly there was nothing but silence. He finally had a few days off after an away game the week before and he relished the opportunity to be home for a few days before heading back to practice and his hectic schedule. 

He dozed back asleep and after a few hours or so he woke to a big brown doe eyed child holding his nose closed, “Daddy we’re hungry.” Zero smiled and tapped the mole under the child’s left eye.

“What should we eat?” He asked as he turned over on his back and pulled Elliot on top of his chest. JJ ran over and climbed onto the bed sitting on Zero’s stomach roughly.

“AhH! You guys are lucky Daddy has so many muscles or that would have hurt.” He yelled as he picked them both up with one arm and gently carried them down the stairs and sat them at the table. “How about…some pancakes?” He asked as he perused the cabinets.

“That sounds good Daddy I want pancakes,” JJ said as he sipped the juice Zero had laid out for them.

Zero mixed the pancake batter and looked out through the window in the kitchen with a grimace. “Well, little princes it looks like it’s gonna rain so we probably can’t do what I originally had planned.” He turned on the skillet and whispered, “I’d hoped the weather guy was wrong last night but looks like he wasn’t. I’m glad I didn’t tell them we were going to that carnival.”

“All right! What should we do today you guys?” Zero asked as he placed plates on small silver dollar pancakes in front of his sons. “Today’s a teacher work day so there’s no school for you lucky little devils.”

“We don’t know. What you wanna do?” Elliot asked as he shoved a bite Zero had cut up for him in his mouth.

“We can do whatever we want as long as we’re home by 2……it was 2 right?” Zero asked the two small children in front of him.

“Yeah! Dad said it over and over and over and over and oove-” “Ok…ok…two o’clock. That’s doable…though we did sleep in pretty late.” He looked over at the clock hanging on the wall, 10:38.

“Maybe it won’t rain after all,” Zero looked optimistic as lightning sounded and the lights flickered ever so gently. “Ok, square one is fine. How about a movie? We haven’t been to the movies in a while. You little princes want to go see a movie with me?”

“YAY!!” “Yeah! We want to see a movie with Daddy.” They clamored over each other with enthusiasm. 

“Sounds like a plan! Now finish your breakfast and we’ll get ready.” Zero clapped his hands together and smiled as he watched them finish eating.

 

“I know you guys don’t like these jackets but it’s raining a little and I need you to not get wet,” Zero straightened Elliot’s blue rubbery raincoat that pictured little bunnies holding umbrellas and placed the attached hood on his head. The hood had ears on it making Elliot look like a baby blue bunny. “There. Now not a single raindrop can touch you,” he said as he pulled rain boots on the child’s small feet.

JJ was already ready to go in his green raincoat that featured spikes and a small tail to make him appear like a dinosaur, though Zero just saw a baby lizard, an adorable baby lizard. 

He beamed with happiness as he was ready to spend an afternoon with his little bunny and baby dinosaur, “The movie starts at 11:40, it’s 97 minutes long and it takes 15 minutes to drive home so we’ll be perfect on time!”

 

Zero ran frantically to the car from the theater holding both boys in one arm and quickly secured them into their booster seats. “So maybe Daddy forgot to take the previews into account and it went longer than expected. It’s fine. It’s fine. It’ll be fine.” He tried to convince himself as he started the car to head home.

“I built in a little wiggle room anyways so we’ll still make it home by two. Do you guys remember what your Dad has planned for you guys anyways? He’ll never let me live it down if I call now and ask.” Towards the end he was speaking more to himself then his children. JJ and Elliot looked at each other. 

“We don’t know,” JJ shrugged as he put his finger up to ‘shhh’ Elliot who just frowned and looked as if he wanted to cry.

Zero drove quickly as break lights lit up in front of him. “No, no, no, no..” He came to a complete stop as the gps informed him of an accident caused by the rain causing delays. He sighed defeatedly, “OK it’s fine, it’s fine we’ll just find another way home but I should probably call Jude just in case.” 

He found an alternate route home and went to dial Jude when his phone died. “….ok. It’s fine we’ll just plug it in……where’s my phone charger?” He looked around in almost a full blown panic, still completely stopped in traffic, when he heard a small voice from the back, “I borrowed it for my phone because it didn’t work.”

Zero closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “JJ, sweet pea…your phone is made of paper and plastic….IT’S NOT GONNA…..!!!!!” He clutched his hands around the steering wheel and took another deep breath setting the navigation in the car and praying they made it home by two.

 

“YES!” Zero yelled as he burst through the front door completely soaked holding two giggling children in his arms, “1:57!”

A loud clamoring could be heard from the kitchen as Jude emerged with wide eyes in complete disbelief, “What are you doing here??”

“What do you mean? Two o'clock like we agreed on. I deserve to be praised too because everything was against me. But they’re all yours now. Just on time.” Zero smiled as he put them down and tried to catch his breath. 

JJ and Elliot hid behind his legs as Jude’s eyes iced over. His whole body almost shook with anger forcing him to compose himself as he quietly spoke, “They had a doctor’s appointment at 2. They needed to be THERE by two NOT HERE!” He began yelling towards the end, “Do you have any idea how hard it is to get two back to back appointments with Dr. Nioa?? He books so far in advance and we need to get the rest of their vaccinations and have their physicals on file so we can start applying to schools for next year!!!! That’s why this was so important.”

He raised his hands slightly and angrily clutched one fist as he rubbed the back of his head with the other. 

“…B-but we didn’t want to go to doctor.” Elliot whispered making Jude close his eyes and sigh before kneeling down. “I’m sorry little prince. I shouldn’t have yelled.” He held out his arms and Elliot ran into them hugging him tightly.

“Don’t be mean to daddy. You want him to hurts us but we don’t wanna go to doctor. Don’t make us go. We just want to be with Daddy. Forever,” JJ pouted. Zero bent down and picked him up to hug him gently and pat his back, “It’s ok. Don’t get upset.” He looked down afraid to make eye contact with Jude, “Look I messed up. I’m so sorry. I’ll call and reschedule and if need be I’ll take them on two different days. It’ll be fine.”

“You’ll take them? You have two away games coming up and will basically be calling the gym and the court home soon. We both know I’ll end up taking them. Like always.” Jude picked Elliot up and kissed his cheek, “Let’s get you changed.” As he headed up the stairs he turned back to Zero and said the two words he hoped he would never hear again, “In case you were wondering…guest room.” 

Zero closed his eyes and sighed as he followed Jude up the stairs to clean up their sons.

 

The guest room downstairs is beautiful. The walls are the purest lightest shade of periwinkle and the furniture a glossy white. It’s a refreshingly clean room that Zero absolutely hates. He laid back and stared at the ceiling as the fan gently spun round and round.

“Oh…my god. Daddy…..what did you do??” Ariel’s voice was soft and prompted his attention to the door where she stood against the frame smiling and shaking her head. “You must have pissed him all the way off so what exactly did you do? So I make sure I don't make the same mistake. He never gets this mad.”

Zero sighed, “I may have messed up a bit. But i’ll fix it.”

“Ariel is there something you need down here?” Jude asked as he walked up from behind her. She chuckled nervously, “Nope just telling daddy good night.”

“If you’re done then head upstairs. You came back really late tonight. It’s already your bedtime.” Jude motioned her away from the door and as she turned to look at Zero once more mouthed, “You’re in so much trouble.”

Zero sat up a bit to try and make eye contact with Jude who just shut the door behind them. He laid back down and breathed in and out slowly, “Dammit.”

 

The next day was tense as Zero tried to keep his head down and stay out of trouble. He sheepishly made his way to Jude who was reading a file on the sofa and kissed his cheek gently. He pressed his nose against Jude’s cheek and kissed him again, “Guest. Room.” Jude said coldly and got up to head to their bedroom. 

By the NEXT night Zero’d had enough. “Look I know I messed up but it’s done and I got them two appointments for tomorrow and I’ll move mountains to make sure they’re on time. You have my word but i’m sleeping in here. I’m sleeping in OUR bed.”

Jude rolled his eyes and scoffed, “Sure. By all means.”

“Really?” Zero was surprised by how easily that went but something about his husband’s tone made him uneasy.

“Go right ahead,” Jude said as Zero laid down apprehensively. Jude got up from the bed and headed for the door. “Where are you going?” Zero asked not wanting to be left alone.

“If you won’t sleep downstairs then I will,” Jude answered and closed the door behind him leaving his husband all alone in their giant room, which he hated being alone in more than the guest room.

Jude was laying down on his stomach clutching a pillow when he heard the door knob jiggle, “It’s locked.” He said sharply knowing full well who was on the other side.

The doorknob jiggled and jiggled as a small scraping noise escaped it making Jude breathe out harshly in annoyance, “Knock it off. It’s locked and i’m not letting you i-” he began as the door opened. 

Zero waltzed in, “I used one of our daughter’s bobbi pins.” He smiled and clutched the pillow and blanket he brought for himself. If Jude didn’t let him in that bed then by all means he was sleeping on the floor, but one way or another they were sleeping in the same room. 

Jude turned away as Zero sat on the bed, “What’s wrong? I get one day…maybe even two but this is a bit much. There has to be more to this than just the doctor’s appointment I missed, WHICH I am very sorry for, but...I don’t know how much longer I can take not sleeping with you.”

Jude sat up, leaned his back against the headboard and looked down at the comforter, “It’s...nothing.”

“No. That’s not gonna work this time. What’s going on?” Zero leaned forward and placed his hand on Jude’s as he kissed his temple. Jude looked up and sighed lightly. “Sorry, I guess I was taking something out on you, but…it wasn’t your fault.”

“What?” Zero looked him deep in the eyes and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“A couple of days ago when the school had that bake sale…I was putting JJ and El in the car and I asked them if they wanted to go to the park.” Jude paused, “JJ said, ‘no, Daddy’.” He looked mortified but Zero flashed a look that said ‘That’s it?’ and shrugged his shoulders.

“You don’t understand. YOU’RE Daddy. I’m DAD. It’s always been that way. They knew that before they even knew how to speak. And when I told him, ‘No, you’re with Dad’ he goes ‘But I want Daddy not you. I only want Daddy.’.” Zero finally understood. “You take them to the park while I make them read, you take them to the movies when i’m trying to make them see the doctor. It’s no wonder he likes you more.”

“Is that it?” Zero asked genuinely confused. “Yeah JJ likes me a bit more, so what.” He stated matter of factly. 

Jude scoffed and was about to give Zero a piece of his mind when he continued, “All our kids have their favorites or have you just not noticed?”

“That’s not true,” Jude flashed an innocent truly oblivious look that melted Zero’s heart.

“Really? Jude the other day when I was in your office replacing the ink cartridge in the printer Ariel came bouncing in with a big smile plastered to her face and when she saw it was me, I cant even explain to you how quickly it disappeared. She sighed and said ‘oh I thought Dad was here but its just you…nevermind’.” Zero looked unamused at the story he had just told while Jude tried to keep a smile from forming on his face. 

This time Zero rolled his eyes and pulled Jude over and underneath him. “You know what that means right?”

Jude nodded, “We have to battle for the affections of the last child.” 

“NO,” Zero scolded as he tapped his forehead against Jude’s. “Though I can’t read El. One minute he’s behind your desk pretending to be you and the next he’ll only sleep while holding my jersey. His favorite’s anyones guess.”

“I’m sorry. It just shocked me that they have favorites when we both love them so much. And then I couldn’t believe you missed that doc-” “No no no don’t bring that up.” Zero interrupted his husband and planted loving kisses on his lips.

He ran his finger’s through Jude’s soft chocolate brown hair and pushed himself against him forcefully making his husband ache with desire.

They were interrupted by the sound of Ariel lightly clearing her throat at the opened door, “Sorry to burst your bubble but JJ is doing that thing where he’s crying and screaming but there’s no sound and he looks like he’s about to explode.”

Jude and Zero got up and ran upstairs to see JJ crying in his doorway, “Daddy!!! I want DADDY!!!! I looked in your room and you weren’t there. Don’t leave again.”

“Hey little prince i’m right here. What’s wrong??” He gently pulled the crying child into his arms and stroked his hair.

Elliot got up and hugged Jude’s legs who bent down and picked him up. He rested his head against Jude’s shoulder, “Daddy’s gonna leave us again right? Like that day and didn’t come home.”

Zero looked up, confused as Jude realized what they were talking about and gently whispered, “Your away game last week.”

Zero closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, “Hey it’s ok. Daddy has to go away sometimes for work but I’ll always come back.”

It took a few minutes but JJ finally stopped crying enough to speak, “Bbbut whhy do you hava go?”

“It’s my job little prince. I make money so we can have a nice home and you can go to good schools.” Zero kissed his forehead as JJ wiggled out of his hold and went to his bookshelf. He grabbed something and carefully brought it over, placing his piggy bank in Zero’s hands.

“There. Now you don’t have to work.” JJ hugged him as Zero tried to fight back a smile. 

“But, I also like working.” Zero tried to explain. He thought for a second and picked him up carrying him to his and Jude’s bedroom where there was a large television.

He flipped it on and searched through some recordings until he found a Devil’s game. It took a minute to fast forward but he finally found himself on the footage and sat on the bed with JJ in his lap. “That’s me,” he whispered.

JJ looked in awe of seeing his father on TV. Zero and Jude had never really shown them such things before. They tried once but Elliot started crying begging Jude to ‘save the small Daddy in the box.’ 

Jude walked in and sat next to them on the bed still holding Elliot, “See. Daddy works hard not just for us but for everyone. His fans and the other players. And doesn't he look happy?”

JJ sniffled and buried his head in Zero’s chest as he nodded yes. “But he loves us the most so no matter what he’ll always come home,” Jude said as he pat his head. JJ stayed buried in his fathers shirt and let out a small, “Promise?”

Zero hugged him tightly, “Of course, little prince. How could I stay away from you?”

 

After a while there was a sleeping child on both Jude’s and Zero’s chest. They looked over at each other and sighed in relief. They gently got them on the bed and looked at each other, “Maybe I can skip the away games next week.”

“As your husband i’d like that a lot. As EVP if you don’t make it to those games you’ll be in breach of your contract and sued.” Jude flashed a scolding look that softened immediately, “They have to learn that this will happen.” He touched Elliot’s cheek gently, “Besides, there’s nothing for them to worry about. How could you not come back to this?”

Zero smiled. “I couldn’t even imagine that,” he said as he looked at Jude and their sons sleeping soundly between them.


End file.
